Pathfinder - Oracle Handbook

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handbooks. Also note that many colored items are also links to the Paizo SRD.

Red: Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational.

Orange: OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances

Green: Good options.

Blue: Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character.

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I make these changes.

Introduction

The Oracle is to the Cleric what the Sorcerer is to the Wizard. Oracles are
Charisma-based spontaneous spellcasters that share a spell list (and several other
aspects) with the Cleric. Because their abilities are so similar, the Oracle can fill
any role that the Cleric can, and because they are Charisma-based, the Oracle makes for
a much better Face than a Cleric.

Oracle Class Features

Hit Points: d8 hit points can be hard if you're on the
front lines, especially with only medium armor and no real need for Dexterity. If you
prefer to stay in the back you're probably fine, but if you're in the front be sure to
boost your AC and Constitution.

Base Attack Bonus: 2/3 BAB and you can buff yourself to
make up the difference.

Saves: The Oracle's only good save is Will, and with no
other need for Wisdom even the Oracle's best save likely won't be spectacular.

Proficiencies: Simple weapons are plenty, and medium
armor and shield provide good AC. If you need more AC, take Heavy Armor Proficiency
or cast some buff spells.

Skills: 4+ skill ranks is great for a straight caster,
and your choice of mystery allows for some interesting class skills.

Spells: The Oracle uses the Cleric spell list, which is
excellent. You have a limited number of spells known which greatly limits your
versatility, but you still have access to all of the Cleric's best spells. Don't forget
that you get to select all Cure or all Inflict spells as spells known for free. The
text is buried in the "Spells" section for Oracles, and it's easy to miss.

Mystery: Your choice of mystery is much like the Cleric's
choice of domain, but more like a Sorceror's Bloodline. It greatly determines the feel
and flavor of your character, and greatly influences your play style. See my
Oracle Mystery Breakdown for help selecting a mystery.

Oracle's Curse: The Oracle's Curse is a handicap. Each
option provides some other benefit which grows as you level, but for the most part the
curses are a burden. If you plan to multiclass, remember that half of your other class
levels count toward your level for the effects of Oracle's Curse, which can make for
some very clever multiclassing options.

Clouded Vision: If you have ever wanted to play a
blind character (and I know that people want to do that), this is the best way to
do it. You aren't truly blind, but you're handicapped enough for it to be a huge
hindrance.

Deaf: Hearing is much less important in Pathfinder
than sight.

Haunted: Pulling items out of your bag shouldn't
happen in combat most of the time, and dropping things ten feet from you isn't
a huge problem. The free spells known are great.

Lame: The only reason you would want this is for a
class dip from Barbarian so that you could rage cycle. An 8th level Barbarian can
take one level of Oracle, and immediately start Rage cycling 8 levels early.

Tongues: Hilarious. Be sure to coordinate with
your party to make sure that someone speaks your language.

Wasting: The least invasive curse. If you don't
plan to be the party's face, this is a good default option. Of course, Oracles
are Charisma-based and get two of the four face skills and you can get the other
two with traits or mysteries, so if your party needs a face you're a fantastic
candidate.

Revelation: The Oracle's pseudo-feat, Revelations are a
great way to customize your Oracle, and provide a lot of fantastic abilities.

Final Revelation: Varies by mystery.

Abilities

The Oracle, like the Cleric, can be either a strict spellcaster or a front-line
combat spellcaster. Your choice of abilities depends on what role you plan to fill
in your party.

Str: If you plan to be a combat caster, you need Strength
for attack and damage. If you're a straight caster, dump Strength.

Dex: Boosts AC and Reflex saves. If AC is a problem or
if you plan to be a combat caster, pick up Heavy Armor Proficiency so that a 12 is
an acceptable score. For straight casters, pick up a little more dexterity to improve
your AC and your ranged attacks.

Con: Everyone needs hit points and Fortitude saves.

Int: With 4+ skill ranks and not a lot of important
skills, you can afford to dump Intelligence if you really need to. However, many
Oracle Mysteries grant access to all knowledge skills, which can make you an excellent
Librarian with a little bit of Intelligence.

Wis: Only required for Will saves, and Will is the
Oracle's good save.

Cha: Your spellcasting ability.

Combat Caster

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 12

Cha: 17

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 16

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 12

Int: 8

Wis: 11

Cha: 15

Str: 14

Dex: 12

Con: 13

Int: 8

Wis: 10

Cha: 15

Straight Caster

25 Point Buy

20 Point Buy

15 Point Buy

Elite Array

Str: 7

Dex: 14

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 14

Cha: 18

Str: 7

Dex: 12

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 13

Cha: 18

Str: 7

Dex: 12

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 12

Cha: 17

Str: 8

Dex: 14

Con: 13

Int: 10

Wis: 12

Cha: 15

Races

Bonuses to Charisma are key, but bonuses to other abilities are nice for combat
caster builds.

Dwarf: The penalty to Charisma is too much of a problem
to overcome for a primary spellcaster.

Elf: Bonuses to two of the Oracle's least important
abilities, and a penalty to constitution.

Gnome: A bonus to Constitution and Charisma is a great
combination for a straight caster build. If you want to play a small straight caster
Oracle, the Gnome is your best bet. The favored class bonus lets you get the higher
level abilities of your Oracle's curse sooner, but remember that the abilities have
an upper limit, and once you get all of the abilities your investment will be wasted.

Half-Elf: The Flexible bonus goes into Charisma, but
that's all that we really get from the Half-Elf unless you take some alternate racial
traits. The favored class bonus grants extra spells known, which will really help
improve the Oracle's versatility.

Half-Orc: The Flexible bonus goes into Charisma, and
Darkvision is nice, but that's really all that we get. The favored class bonus
grants extra spells known, which will really help improve the Oracle's versatility.

Halfling: Similar to the Gnome, Halflings get a bonus
to the Charisma, and make a great straight caster option. Their favored class bonus
is the same as the Gnome's.

Human: The ability bonus goes into Charisma, the skill
ranks can help offset dumping Intelligence if you choose to do so, and a bonus feat
is always fantastic. The favored class bonus grants extra spells known, which will
really help improve the Oracle's versatility.

Traits

Your choice of traits depends largely on your character concept. Because Mysteries
and spell lists make Oracles so diverse, it's largely impossible to determine what
traits would be good for all Oracles.

Skills

Diplomacy (Cha): One of the most important skills
in the game, especially if you plan to be the party's Face. Oracles don't get Bluff
and Intimidate as class skills by default, but you can get them from traits or
from several Mysteries.

Heal (Wis): Excellent way to supplement your magical
healing abilities, but you won't be as good as a Cleric because you don't rely on
Wisdom.

Knowledge (history) (Int): Situational, but it
can tell you a lot about the world in some campaigns.

Knowledge (planes) (Int):

Knowledge (religion) (Int): One of the best and most
important Knowledge skills.

Feats

Your choice of feats depends largely on your character concept, but some feats
work well for any Oracle.

Abundant Revelations: One extra use of a revalation
is really hard to justify unless the revalation is exceptionally good. I might
consider this on the Dual-Cursed Oracle's Fortune revelation, but I would never
take this on anything less powerful than that.

Combat Casting: If you're going into melee,
you should be able to handle weapons well enough to not need this.

Divine Protection: When this feat was written it
was a constant benefit, which made it an absolutely stellar option for Oracles.
However, it was updated to only apply once per day as an immediate action.
Unfortunately, once per day just isn't enough to justify the feat no matter how
absurd your Charisma bonus is.

Eldritch Heritage: Sorcerer bloodlines have a lot
to offer. Most of the 1st-level powers aren't worth a feat, but a handful of
them are very good. If you want a bloodline with a poor 1st-level power but
better powers at higher levels, consider delaying this feat to 9th level. You
need Skill Focus to qualify, so try to capitalize on Skill Focus as much as
you can by building yourself to use the requisit skill effectively.

Improved Eldritch Heritage: You get one of
the two mid-level abilities from a sorcerer bloodline. Most bloodlines
will have one option which is clearly better than the other, but for
those few bloodlines that have two good options you can take this
twice.

Greater Eldritch Heritage: Many
bloodlines have very exciting high-level abilities.

Expanded Arcana: If you want to know more spells,
take the Human or Half-elf racial flavored class bonus.

Extra Revelation: Many revelations are better than
most feats. If your mystery has enough good revelations that you won't normally
be able to take them all, this is a good choice.

Heavy Armor Proficiency: The Oracle doesn't need
mobility in most cases, and additional armor can really reduce your dependence
on Dexterity and spells for AC.

Spell Penetration: At high levels Spell Resistance
will become increasingly problematic. You may be able to get by on options
which don't allow spell resistance, but if you can't this is a great idea.

Greater Spell Penetration: Another +2.

Warrior Priest: Improved Inititative is better.

Weapons

Heavy Mace: The Cleric's iconic weapon, the Heavy
Mace is strictly worse than a Morningstar and there is literally no reason to
select it.

Longspear: Your only option with reach.

Morningstar: The best one-handed simple weapon,
the Morningstar does just as much damage as a Heavy Mace, and can overcome two
types of DR.

Shortspear: A tiny bit less damage than the
Morningstar, but you can throw it.

Armor

Armor is presented in the order in which you should acquire it, rather than
alphabetical order.

Hide: Probably your starting armor at 1st level.

Heavy Steel Shield: Never goes out of style. If
you find that you frequently switch back and forth between a weapon and a free
hand for spellcasting, switch to a buckler so that you have a free hand to cast
spells.

Breastplate: Your best option at any and every
level, unless you spend feat on Heavy Armor Proficiency.

Spells

The Oracle's spells are largely the same as the Cleric's. However, Oracles get a
handful of exclusive spells. Also keep in mind that, since you can't trade your spells
on a daily basis, you'll want to stick to spells you need on a consistent basis.

2nd-Level Spells

Oracle's Burden: The effectiveness of this spell depends
wholly on your choice of curse. It's not clear how this interacts with Dual-Cursed
Oracles, but I would assume that you only apply one curse. The best way I can think
to use this is with the Clouded Vision curse, but at that point Blindness/Deafness
is considerably better.

3rd-Level Spells

Borrow Fortune: Save this for save-or-suck effects,
then spend the next two turns playing it safe.

4th-Level Spells

Oracle's Vessel: If you have Clouded Vision, this
is blindsight.

8th-Level Spells

Divine Vessel: Very similar to divine power, but you
get more defensive benefits and you don't get a luck bonus to attacks or an extra
haste-style attack.

Magic Items

Rings

Ring of Spell Knowledge: The usefulness of this
item is wholly contingent on wether or not you can replace the spell that you
"taught" to the ring. I can that you can replace the spell with reasonable
certainty. Page of Spell Knowledge has largely the same function, but costs much
less and is slotless. If you use the magic item rules, the effect of Page of
Spell Knowledge has a base cost of 500 gp for 1st-level spells, just a third of
the cost of Ring of Spell Knowledge I. Being rewritable would justify that cost
difference. With that established, this is an amazing item. There is no limitation
on the spell being on your spell list or even wether or not it's arcane or divine!
Want to learn magic missile? Go for it. The rings go up to 4th level, but I think
the peak usefulness is 3rd-level because that gets you access to most of the important
healing/utility spells on the cleric/oracle spell list.

How you teach spells to the wring is also important. The item description doesn't
specify an action, so I would default to either a standard action or 1 hour to
match the rules for
Spells
Copied from Another's Spellbook or a Scroll. The easiest way to get access to
spells is in "written form". This typically means a scroll or a spellbook, so if
the spell isn't on the wizard spell list you'll need to get a scroll. A generous
DM might let you copy the spell from an Alchemist's Formula Book, but I don' think
that makes sense. Alchemists can learn wizard spells from spellbooks, but wizards
can't learn spells from formulae books. The item description also doesn't specify
what happens if you fail the spellcraft check. I would default to the Spells Copied
from Another's Spellbook or Scroll rules, which means that using the scroll to
teach the spell discharges the scroll. If that's the case, it's cheaper to pay an
NPC to cast the spell once than it is to buy a scroll, though it's obviously less
portable. The end result is that a wizard's spellbook becomes a treasure trove of
utility. Spend an hour, learn a spell out of the spellbook, cast it as needed, then
trade it out later.

Wands

Cure Light Wounds: You have more spell slots to
burn than a cleric, but a wand of Cure Light Wounds is till a great investment.
You can't always rest to restore your spell slots, so it often makes sense to
save the spell slots for solving other problems and use a wand for healing between
fights.

Wondrous Items

Cloak of Resistance: Too crucial to forego.

Page of Spell Knowledge: A great way to get extra
spells known. I think Ring of Spell Knowledge is better for anything that you can
find in a Wizard's or Magus's spellbook, but for divine spells that you might need
on a regular basis Page of Spell Knowledge makes more sense because you don't need
to pay NPC's to cast the spell for you and you don't need to consume scrolls.

Multiclassing and Prestige Classes

Oracles are full casters, so generally multiclassing isn't a good option. Other
classes, such as Barbarians, might dip into Oracle in order to abuse the higher level
bonuses provides by the Oracle's Curse.